If you are tracking the NSE Do it via RICHLIVE and use Mozilla Firefoxas your Browser.0930-1500 KENYA TIMENormal Board - The Whole shebangPrompt Board Next day settlementExpert Board All you need re an Individual stock.

The Parker Solar Probe flew extremely close to the sun, smashing theprevious distance record of 26.55 million miles (42.72 millionkilometers) and speeding through space at 213,2000 miles per hour –the fastest any man-made spacecraft has ever travelled.

05-DEC-2016 From feeding the hot-house conspiracy frenzy on line (‘’aconstant state of destabilised perception’’) timely and judiciousdoses of Wikileaks leaks which drained Hillary’s bona fides and herturn-out and motivated Trump’s, what we have witnessed is somethingremarkable and noteworthy.http://bit.ly/2CGuGDd

The post 9/11 “hearts and minds” PSYOPs designed to fight terror havebeen repurposed for political campaigns, while also leveraged byforeign influence operations like Putin’s IRA or campaign-facing trollfactories like PSY Group.http://bit.ly/2LmEbYD

"He can't read, so he gets really nervous," Casler said."So he gets nervous and he crushes up these pills. That's why he'ssniffing when you see him in debates, and when you see him reading."That's why he's tweeting. He's out of his mind. It makes sense if youthink about it."Methamphetamine was invented by the Nazis to keep the fighter pilotsup all night on bombing runs."So it makes sense that Trump would use it to hate-tweet in hisself-centred rage at 4am on the toilet."

To understand Moqtada al-Sadr’s ideology, it’s important to recall thegenesis of the Iraqi state. During the first world war, as nationalistfever swept across the Ottoman empire, Shia Arabs refused to join theBritish-orchestrated Arab revolts. Unlike some of the Sunni Arabtribes, they opted to remain loyal to a crumbling Muslim empire ratherthan ally themselves with a western power. The religious establishmentin Najaf even declared a jihad on the British invasion of Mesopotamia(present-day Iraq) and sent a contingent to join the army of SuleimanPasha in the battle of Shuaiba near Basra.

In the post-war drawing rooms where the spoils of the fallen empirewere divided, those who had supported the British were rewarded withkingdoms in the Levant and Mesopotamia (Jordan, Iraq). Those who hadnot were forced to pledge allegiance to these new kingdoms. And whenthe Shia revolted against the British in 1920, this cemented ananti-Shia bias in the fledgling Iraqi state.

You will recall that Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping enjoyed a muchanticipated ''Truce'' Dinner at the G20 in Buenos Aires and quaffed aCatena Zapata Nicolas Malbec [2014] wine with their sirloin steaks andfinished it all off with caramel rolled pancakes, crispy chocolate andfresh cream, a dinner that ran over by 60 minutes and one where thedinner Guests broke out into spontaneous applause thereafter.

U.S. military says 62 Al-Shabab militants killed in six airstrikesconducted on Dec 15 and 16 in the Gandarshe area, South of Mogadishu.US airstrikes in Somalia this year are inching closer to 50 w/ over300 militants killed, per ⁦@USAfricaCommand⁩

The Trump administration has unveiled what John Bolton, the nationalsecurity adviser, has billed as a “new” Africa strategy for the US. Onthe commercial front there is indeed some fresh thinking. But much ofwhat Mr Bolton says has emerged from a detailed inter-agency debateabout America’s future engagement with the continent, seems to belongin the past.

If his speech on Friday is the guide, Washington’s take on Africa isstuck somewhere between the 19th century scramble and the cold war,when the continent played proxy for superpower rivalry. Mr Boltondepicts US relations with Africa as a geostrategic board game in whichAfricans have less agency than a pawn. Whatever “predatory” moves byChinese and Russian policymakers may be going on, he somehow findsAmerica to be the principal victim.

“Great power competitors, namely China and Russia, are rapidlyexpanding their financial and political influence across Africa. Theyare deliberately and aggressively targeting their investments in theregion to gain a competitive advantage over the United States,” MrBolton claims.

It is unlikely many Africans will welcome the prospect of returning tothe era of “us or them” development partners depicted in this vision,or feel much sympathy if America is the one left behind. If the US haslost ground to rivals, it is successive administrations that are toblame. Washington has responded with complacency to the past twodecades of changing dynamics on the continent, where bouts of rapideconomic expansion have meant the emergence of more assertivegovernments, a growing consumer class and a host of new suitors fromaround the world.

The pioneering spirit with which Americans built their nation has beennotably absent from US-Africa policy. This has increasingly focused oncombating militant Islamists and terrorism, at the expense of a moremulti-faceted approach.

Mr Bolton is wrong to see China’s role on the continent as uniquelynegative. While Washington has been otherwise occupied, Beijing hasadopted a long-term view of Africa’s potential, marrying its own questfor resources and new markets to Africa’s need for infrastructuredevelopment and fast money. Moscow, like Washington, is arriving lateto the party.

Mr Bolton is wrong on another front too: past development aid, whichhe dismisses as “aid without effect” and a waste of US taxpayers’money. That is certainly not true of the health initiatives launchedby George W Bush, the previous Republican president, and which savedcountless lives. Moreover, the benefits — in terms of exertingstronger US influence — of the stricter aid conditionality herecommends have been diluted by China’s willingness to providebillions of dollars in investment, free of politicised conditions.

If there is a positive to draw, it is that Washington is waking up tothe need to re-engage and that to do so effectively it must placeeconomic ties to Africa up the priority list. The recent passage oflegislation that doubles the spending power of the Overseas PrivateInvestment Corporation is one step in the right direction. Giving abigger role to the US government agency that handles private sectorlending abroad plays to America’s strength by promoting closerbusiness ties. It is a pity, however, that Mr Bolton depicts suchmeasures as designed explicitly to project US power in Africa, ratherthan to promote reciprocal interests, and to counter the influence of“great power” rivals. Such language is out of step with the times.Conclusions

“My role will be to make sure that we don’t go back to square one,square one meaning where we found the Congo 22 years ago,” he toldReuters inside an ornate reception room with high ceilings andsweeping views of the churning Congo River.“In politics, in life, you shouldn’t rule out anything,” he said whenasked about a potential return. “There are still other chapters towrite.”In the 18 years since a youthful, clean-shaven Kabila succeeded hisslain father, Laurent, the now bulked-up president sporting a billowygray beard has traced an unlikely trajectory from accidental andapparently reluctant leader to the defining Congolese figure of histime.There were early accomplishments - ending a regional war and holdingthe first open presidential elections - but also incessant conflict,lethal crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters and corruption that thegovernment acknowledges siphoned off billions of dollars of potentialrevenue.Foreign investment has propelled Democratic Republic of Congo to thestatus of Africa’s top copper producer and the world’s leading minerof cobalt, a crucial component of electric car batteries, but militiaviolence has persisted in the east.Denis Mukwege, the Congolese doctor who shared this year’s Nobel PeacePrize for his efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon ofwar, said Kabila had a right to remain in politics but hoped voterswould remember his broken promises.“None of the elements needed to install a real democracy have beenmade during his time in power,” he told Reuters.“Kabila saw what happened in Angola. That’s why he chose the personwho is the most loyal and, above all, the least threatening to hispersonal power,” said Manya Riche, who advised Kabila from 2008 to2011.Referring to an arrangement in which Vladimir Putin remained Russia’sdominant leader as prime minister until he could run for presidentagain, she said: “This isn’t Russia. At a certain point here, it’s thechief who’s in the chair who is the chief.”Kabila rarely speaks in public and is driven by mistrust of almosteveryone outside a tight circle of family that includes his twinsister, Jaynet, and younger brother, Zoe, people who have workedclosely with him said.Although Kabila put most of the blame on the brutal legacy of formercolonial power Belgium, Barnabe Kikaya Bin Karubi, a current advisor,said he sought to change “the Congolese mentality from people who likesongs and dance and high life to people concentrated on hard work”.Kabila appears serene.“Look at my face. Do I look worried?” he told Reuters. “I am not worried.”

Nyakato gathered her things and what little money she had and crossedto Kyangwali, a refugee camp in Uganda on the other side of LakeAlbert."If there is still war, the elections won't make a difference," she remarked.She is one of around 123,000 refugees who have fled across the borderin recent months.

The offer came as Indian prime minister Narendra Modi rolled out thered carpet for Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the Maldivian president, who ison his first overseas visit since his shock election victory threemonths ago.Mr Solih stunned political observers in September when he defeatedAbdulla Yameen, who as Maldives’ president had grown increasinglyhostile to India and forged closer ties with China.The Maldives is one of several Indian Ocean nations, including SriLanka and Mauritius, where India is vying with China for influence, asthey seek to entrench their maritime power.Since his victory, Mr Solih has repeatedly expressed his desire torebalance the Maldives’ foreign relations, and restore the islandnation’s traditionally close ties with India.Speaking at a business forum in New Delhi on Monday ahead of a meetingwith Mr Modi, Mr Solih said: “India is our closest neighbour and ourpeople are bound by ties of friendship and cultural affinity.“India is not only our closest friend, it is also one of our largesttrading partners.”Mr Modi in a press statement pledged New Delhi’s support for theMaldives. “India is always with you,” he said. “The security of ourtwo countries is interlinked.”

Since 2015, the DR Congo, a major rent-based economy in Africa, hasembarked into macroeconomic turbulence with significant inflationarypressures and a severe exchange rate depression, partly due to acommodities slump. The economic downturn has contributed tostrengthening the acute social crisis. The country is a fragile stateon the edge, a product of the postponement of the 2016 presidentialelections.Despite its rich endowment of natural resources, the DR Congo remainsprimarily a commodity export economy. In 2001, after the end of the1998-2003 second Congolese war, a donors’ community graduallycooperated with the DR Congo. From 2004 to 2014, the countryexperienced relative macroeconomic stability. In 2015, its economicresilience deteriorated. Since then, the country has been goingthrough major macroeconomic turbulence.First, the paper examines the country’s fragile economic resilience,as its economic performance is closely tied to the fluctuation ofcommodities prices.In 2007, the global financial crisis generated a depression incommodity markets. The DR Congo experienced a severe mining crisis,notably in the copper-cobalt belt of the ex-Katanga province. Beyond adrastic reduction of export revenues, the crisis negatively impactedon the country’s economy.As of 2015, a second mining crisis occurred in the DR Congo, resultingfrom a drop in global commodity prices. In terms of trade balance, thecountry’s exports dropped USD 10,293,164 942.77 to USD12,311,036,836.25. In 20I5, mineral and oil exports corresponded to97.5% of the country’s total export value. Mineral exports includedcopper, cobalt, and zinc from Gecamines and partners operating in theabove-mentioned copper-cobalt belt. They represented 80.7% of thecountry’s total export value (Figure 1).In 2015, China was the first trade partner of the country. Thegeopolitics of copper and cobalt led China to strengthen its economicpartnership with the DR Congo. In addition to the Sino-Congolesemining deal of 2007[ii], it increased its presence in the country,through major mining acquisitions over the last decade[iii].Macroeconomic developments in China will continue to impact theCongolese economy.Overall, improving governance of the extractive sector remains aprerequisite. The sector is a major source of country’s growthpotential.from December 31st, 2014 to June 29th, 2016, the annual inflationincreased from 1.26% to 3.44%. From July 29th to December 31st, 2016,it soared from 6.5% to 25.04%, regardless of the first set of thegovernment’s measures having been implemented on January 28th, 2016.On January 31st, 2017, it spiked to 119.13%, the highest for the firsttime in eight years. From February 28th to July 16th, 2017, annualinflation slightly decreased, from 75.13% to 73.23%, although itremained above 50% (see Figure 3). Regardless of its agriculturalpotential, the DR Congo is a major importer of food products, whichcontinues to fuel inflationary pressures. Altogether, it hasexperienced hyperinflation, which is, to a lesser extent, a reminderof Zaire’s hyperinflation crisis, which occurred from 1990 to1996[ix]. Besides the external shocks, the main causes of thehyperinflation are political in nature. Rising political instabilitywas exclusively derived from the over-delayed presidential elections.The inflationary spiral has put pressure on the official exchange rateof the freely floating Congo Franc (CDF) against the US Dollar (USD).From December 31st, 2015 to December 30th, 2016, the Congolese francdepreciated against the USD, from CDF 927.92 per USD 1 to CDF 1,215.59per USD, corresponding to a 31% monetary depreciation. On January31st, 2017, the national currency depreciated from CDF 927.92 per USDto reach CDF 1,647.80 by end July 2017, or a depreciation of 28.67% inseven months (Figure 4). As a result, Congolese households’ purchasingpower continued to drop. This led to mounting social tension,including repeated calls for strikes[x]. The Congolese currency’sdepreciation damaged economic operators’ confidence. A highercountry-risk resulted from a deterioration of the business climate.Since the end of July 2017, the Congolese currency has timidlyappreciated against the American currency[xi]. On August 11th, 2017,it was traded at CDF 1,500.56 / USD 1.

COLOGNE - China has intensified it's grip, control and access toZimbabwe's mineral wealth by reportedly demanding diamonds and oildrilling rights from President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government, aspayment for printing and backing a new Zimbabwe currency, and thebuilding of an opulent new capital city in Mount Hampden, SpotlightZimbabwe has reported.

The new Zimbabwe dollar is expected to be launched in early 2020, torepeal and replace the surrogate currency of bond notes, and will bebacked by the country's diamond and gold reserves supported byBeijing, which holds the largest diamond reserves in Asia, diplomaticsources in Harare said this week.

Mt Hampden city, the new capital city, itself a Mnangagwa brainchildmooted when he was still vice president in 2015, is expected to beoperational when a new Chinese funded parliament in the city iscompleted around 2021.

Mount Hampden is situated some 20km from central Harare, and is alsonearby to the landmark Charles Prince Airport in Mashonaland EastProvince.

Prominent features of the new capital, which is part of a grandstrategy to de-congest Harare, and designed in the mould of SouthAfrica's economic capital Johannesburg, include a university,technology centre, schools, churches, hospitals, industrial sites,residential areas, shopping malls, and hotels. The city will house thenew parliament complex at a value of more than US$140 million,together with a new State House for the head of state, including theofficial residences for the Speaker of parliament and the Senatepresident.

Zimbabwe trashed its fiat currency in 2009 after it was ravaged byhyper-inflation which had peaked at around 500 billion percent,rendering it unusable. It then adopted a slew of foreign currencies,including the US dollar, the South African rand, the British pound andthe Euro.

"It is all about oil and diamonds," said one envoy representing aSouth Asian country. "China has demanded for oil rights and exclusiveaccess to your country's diamonds in Marange, without having to cedeownership of those assests to locals under the indigenisationthreshold. It will soon not be applying to their firms coming back tomine diamonds, following a fallout with Robert Mugabe's government.Actually it could be the reason why Mugabe is no longer in power,because he wanted Chinese companies to be under Zimbabwean miners thusposing a threat to Beijing's diamond interests and long term futurereserves. Marange had become their biggest foreign source of diamondsto supplement, about 50% of their proven diamond reserves concentratedin the Liaoning Province. That is why they're generously constructingthe new city, and working on the new Zimbabwe dollar set to belaunched in early 2020. It is being printed as we speak, but the dateof introduction remains a secret."

Traders in African markets have had a year to forget, and there aresigns the rout’s not over yet.The continent’s stocks and bonds have performed worse than those ofall other emerging-market regions in 2018, reversing theiroutperformance of last year.The selloff has left equities in nations such as South Africa, Egypt,Nigeria and Kenya at or near their cheapest levels in years. And theyields of Eurobonds issued by governments have soared to a point lastseen in early 2016, when investors fretted China’s economic slowdownwas gaining momentum.But bargain-hunters won’t necessarily jump in next year. Risks aboundfrom tense elections in the two biggest economies -- Nigeria and SouthAfrica -- to low oil prices, potential credit-rating downgrades andthe prospect of sovereign defaults.

Here’s what investors should look out for:Angola

The OPEC member is desperate to boost an economy that will contractfor the third year running in 2018, according to the InternationalMonetary Fund. This month, the government signed a $3.7 billionthree-year loan with the Washington-based lender that it hopes willend severe shortages of foreign exchange, which have forced thecentral bank to devalue the kwanza by almost 50 percent againstagainst the dollar since January. State energy company Sonangol,meanwhile, is trying to attract foreign investment in oil fields andincrease production that’s at the lowest in about a decade.Egypt

The central bank took a big step early this month when it ended arepatriation mechanism guaranteeing foreign-exchange availability foroverseas investors. That will leave the Egyptian pound more exposed tomarket forces next year as bond and stock traders switch to using theinterbank market. Their response so far has been “extremely positive”and few are exiting their positions, according to Citigroup Inc.,which recommends that clients buy three-month T-bills yielding almost20 percent. With a fiscal deficit of about 10 percent of grossdomestic product, Egypt needs the investment.Ethiopia

Abiy Ahmed has pledged a raft of reforms since becoming prime ministerin April, including opening up the telecommunications and powerindustries to private investors. That could further boost an economythe IMF reckons will grow 7.5 percent this year, the most insub-Saharan Africa. Still, foreign-exchange shortages are acute,putting pressure on the birr. Issuing another Eurobond would increasethe Horn of Africa nation’s low reserves, but the IMF warned thismonth that it’s at high risk of debt distress.Ghana

West Africa’s second-biggest economy is set to exit a bailout programwith the IMF at the end of this year. That’s helped fix the nation’sfinances and drive the inflation rate down to its lowest since 2013.Still, investors are wary about the finance ministry’s plan to sellbillions of dollars of century bonds and hope it isn’t a sign thegovernment will revert to unsustainable spending without the guidinghand of the IMF.Kenya

With growth of around 6 percent expected next year, the Kenyan economyremains one of Africa’s most buoyant. But Moody’s Investors Servicehas warned about the government’s rising debt levels and said they’llprobably reach 60 percent of GDP in the medium term. The IMF has alsosaid that, due to central bank meddling, the shilling is almost 20percent overvalued and no longer a floating currency, which GovernorPatrick Njoroge has denied.Mozambique

The southern African country may have been in default for almost twoyears, but its Eurobonds are the best performers in emerging marketsin 2018, making a price return of 15 percent. Much of that’s down tothe government agreeing, in principle, a restructuring deal with mostof its bondholders. If other investors give their consent early in2019, it could pave the way for Mozambique to get an IMF bailout.Nigeria

Nigerians go to the polls in mid-February, with 75-year-old PresidentMuhammadu Buhari trying to fend off a challenge from Atiku Abubakar,72, a former vice president. Buhari says he’ll continue to fightagainst corruption. Abubakar’s long been dogged by allegations ofgraft. But many foreign investors think his policies -- includingending a system of multiple exchange rates and selling part of thestate oil company -- are more likely to revive an economy stillreeling from the 2014 crash in crude prices.Senegal

The West African nation has presidential elections in late Februarybut investors aren’t perturbed, given its history of politicalstability. That’s one reason, along with economic growth of 7 percent,why Citigroup says its Eurobonds could be in for a rebound afterselling off heavily this year. The Wall Street bank’s analystsrecommended to clients on Dec. 11 that they buy the government’s 2024dollar notes, which yield around 7 percent.South Africa

South Africa faces a bumpy 2019, not least because of generalelections in May. Should President Cyril Ramaphosa’s African NationalCongress fail to win a significant majority, he may be forced to delaymarket-friendly reforms such as revamping debt-laden state companiesby retrenching workers or selling assets. Conversely, he couldaccelerate others that investors are nervous about, including changingthe constitution to make land expropriation easier. Crucial, too, willbe an assessment by Moody’s -- the last ratings company to judge SouthAfrica as investment grade -- soon after the February budget. Adowngrade to junk would trigger the country’s exclusion from the WorldGovernment Bond Index and outflows of as much as $7 billion, accordingto Citigroup.Zambia

Next year could be make or break for Zambia, whose Eurobonds havetanked more than those of any other sovereign in emerging markets in2018 and trade at spreads of around 1,200 basis points above U.S.Treasuries. Bank of America Merrill Lynch says there’s an “increasingrisk” it’ll be forced into a debt restructuring if it can’t negotiatefriendlier terms on bilateral loans from China or get an IMF bailout.

E-Commerce and home-based deliveries have changed the World fromLondon to China. Given the ubiquity of the smart-phone here in Kenya,I am certain the same disruption is headed our way and that a lot ofcommercial real-estate will be legacy assets. The Millenials withtheir Avocado eating and crypto currency trading ways are just aslikely to be African as they are European or American.

Five top officials of a church in Roysambu, Jesus Winners Ministry,are set to be the new owners of Uchumi’s multibillion-shillingKasarani land.The private limited company at the centre of the Sh2.8 billiontransaction, Jewel Complex Limited, is majority owned by Edward MwaiKiongo, also a leader at the church.Jewel Complex Limited was registered on May 23 last year.Shareholders of the firm include Edward Mwai Kiongo who holds 36.36percent stake, Paul Gichohi Mutune with 9.09 per cent ownership whileAgnes Wanjiku Kiongo, Raphael Mwiti Thiaru and James Kiongo Mwai allhold 18.18 per cent shares each.Jesus Winners Ministry is a popular church among the political elite.It hosted President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto forprayers during their last church service, two days before the August 8election.The church also hosted President Kenyatta on June 30 2013, about twomonths after he assumed power.Court filings show that the struggling retailer has entered into anagreement with Jewel Complex Limited to sell the land at Sh2.8billion.